New location for Wick Post Office secures future

The Post Office will be relocating the branch 200 yards north up Wick Street, to the Wick News premises, where it will become one of the first of 6,000 post offices to be converted to a new-style “main” branch.

The relocation is part of the biggest investment programme in the organisation’s history, which it claims puts a stop to controversial branch closures, resulting in the loss of two other Littlehampton branches, in Horsham Road and Norfolk Road, in recent years.

The new location will have extended opening hours – a total of 15.5 extra hours of service each week, including Sunday morning – and will also have a new, open-plan layout which officials claim will make dealings more efficient.

The current branch is set to close on Tuesday, April 30, with the new premises scheduled to open for business on May 1.

Post Office regional network manager for the south and England, Mark Lawrence, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Wick and we are confident that this new modern Post Office service will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.”

He added: “This modernisation is part of a three-year investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office, that will see around 6,000 branches – about half the Post Office network – converting to new-style branches. This investment makes a commitment to no more branch closure programmes.”

The move follows the completion of a six-week public consultation, which was launched in December.

The modernised post office will have a mixture of two screened counter positions and one open plan area at the shop counter offering retail and Post Office services.

Opening hours at the new location will be Monday to Friday: 8:30am–6.30pm; Saturday: 9am-5.30pm; Sunday: 9am–noon.

Currently, the new location does not have an ATM cash dispenser, but there are plans, subject to planning permission to install one.